AgrowFab · Far Infrared Radiation Smart Fabric Heating Element for GreenHouses

With AgrowFab, we aim to commercialize a new generation of smart heating fabric elements for greenhouses, constituting an innovation to the main challenges currently faced by the industry. Air convection heating systems, hot water pipes and lately radiative heating solutions are the main technologies used for greenhouse heating. However, they have specific drawbacks, namely energy waste (the system heats the entire greenhouse and not only the crops), increased pest infestation and collateral high pesticide use (as a result of the unnecessarily extensive heating) and low design and mechanical flexibility (heating surface is usually limited to tubes/pipes round shape). Our consortium formed by San Hitech, with 20 years’ involvement in engineering and project management and ThermoSiv, an innovative SME specialized in smart heating solutions to develop AgrowFab, using a highly cost-effective and environmentally-friendly heating fabric comprising nylon fibers coated with a proprietary non-metal carbon compound making them electrically conductive. Heat generated by an electric current flowing through these fibers is directly radiated to the crops as Far Infrared Radiation (FIR), creating a micro-climate around them. Our solution has unlimited design and mechanical flexibility and it also offers the possibility of soil sterilization, decreasing the need of pesticides. Its real-time response to crop needs can increase crop production by up to 35% and decrease energy consumption by at least 40%. AgrowFab can be powered using renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines and combines the aforementioned advantages with an estimated revenue increase of greenhouse businesses by up to 30%.Through this project, we aim to boost the competitiveness of both companies, reaching cumulative revenues of €55.31 million after 5 years of commercialization, creating 100 new job positions. With a total Phase 2 investment of €1.6 million, this would imply a ROI of 4.48.